About John William

A CPA Who's Been
Inside the Mess
You're Dealing With

15+ years as a CFO and financial executive at companies doing $300M–$800M. Now I work with business owners doing $1M–$10M who deserve the same level of financial rigor — without the enterprise price tag.

John Donovan, CPA
CPA
Washington License #59190
The story

Why I Work With
Smaller Businesses

I spent 15+ years as a CFO and Director of FP&A at private equity-backed companies — $350M manufacturers, $800M consumer brands, $500M government contractors. I've built P&Ls from scratch, led M&A integrations, managed $850M debt refinancings, and delivered $13M+ in profit through better financial structure.

What I kept seeing was this: smaller business owners were dealing with the same financial problems as large corporations — messy books, cash flow blind spots, tax inefficiencies, wrong entity structure — but without anyone in their corner who actually understood it.

So I built John William to fix that. A focused, senior-level financial practice for serious business owners who've outgrown basic bookkeeping and need someone who's actually been in the room when the numbers matter.

15+

Years of experience

Progressive leadership across manufacturing, consumer brands, real estate, government contracting, and private equity.

CPA

Certified Public Accountant

Washington State License #59190. Northern Illinois University, BS Accountancy.

CFO

Executive-level experience

Former CFO, VP of Finance, and Corporate Director of FP&A at companies ranging from $30M to $800M.

PE

Private equity background

Worked with Advent International, Charlesbank, Z-Capital, and other PE firms on portfolio company operations.

Real outcomes

Numbers That Actually Happened

These aren't projections. They're results from real engagements.

$13M+
Profit delivered through financial modeling and cost savings for a government contractor
83%
Reduction in past due AR in 3 months through margin analysis by product
28→2
Days to close — monthly closing cycle cut from 28 days to 2
$4M
Added to balance sheet by improving DSO from 45 to 35 days
$2.5M
EBITDA improvement in 2 years while sales declined 20%
Career background

Where This Experience Comes From

Wilton Brands · $800M
Corporate Director, FP&A
Led $9M acquisition integration and directed refinance of $850M+ debt. Implemented Hyperion consolidation and planning systems.
Colson Group · $350M
Corporate Director, FP&A
Global manufacturing. Restructured US, Europe, and China operations improving EBITDA by $5M. Annual operating plan for 31 entities.
Francotyp-Postalia · US CFO
Chief Financial Officer
Improved EBITDA $2.5M while sales declined 20%. Improved DSO from 83 to 51 days across 48,000 customers.
Kennicott Brothers · $300M
Vice President of Finance
Improved DSO from 45 to 35 days adding $4M to balance sheet. Led AR/AP streamlining and ASC 842 lease conversion.
Motorola · Equity Office
Corporate Auditor
Corporate audit, manufacturing cost accounting, and internal controls across large enterprise environments.
John William · 2016–Present
Managing Director / Owner
Serving contractors, real estate investors, and business owners with the same rigor applied to $300M–$800M companies.
"Most business owners I work with aren't struggling because their business is broken. They're struggling because their financial structure is invisible to them. We fix the visibility. The decisions take care of themselves."
— John Donovan, CPA · John William

Ready to Work With Someone
Who's Seen It All?

Start with a Financial Clarity Review — a focused diagnostic that tells you exactly where your money is going.

Request a Clarity Review